Hello, and welcome to the inaugural column from the Shed Geek!
First and foremost, I would like to take a moment to thank Shed Business Journal for providing the opportunity to use their well-established platform to ramble about some of our shared shed journeys.
What Marty Boltres, his wife Debbie, their children, Matt Poe, and everyone else at Shed Business Journal, in combination with the Shed Builder Expo, have done for the industry deserves a round of applause. We at Shed Geek tip our hat to all of you and thank you for the years of service you have provided to this lovely industry.
Where to begin? So many thoughts. So many things to discuss. Do we focus on what I like to call the fragmentation of the industry? Perhaps the ever-growing distance between traditional storage and ADU or shed-to-house conversions? Maybe the unique styles and customizable options? Tech? Sales and marketing? Hauling?
My, oh my, it’s so hard to focus on just one thing. I suppose some would say that might make a fella a Shed Geek.
I think we’ll start this inaugural column with you, yes you, fellow shed geeks. I can remember distinctly where I was when the idea hit me. I was working for Dave Miller at SmartPay Rentals and, as per usual, I was driving, knocking on doors, and working the phones while listening to either some music, an audiobook, or one of my favorite podcasts.
I’ve always been a fan of “talk radio” so it wasn’t unusual for me to spend time in motivational and informational banter wherever I could find it. A prospective dealer at the time mentioned how much they wished they had more resources for shed-related activities.
Wouldn’t you know, I found myself on that trip stopping from one location to the next and recognized that all the questions were the same: “How are things looking elsewhere?” “How are sales over in that area?” “What are they experiencing with labor? Sales?” and so on.
I was traveling east of Springfield, Illinois, and it hit me, “Why doesn’t someone record these conversations to share with each other?” I mean, yeah, we have Facebook, and Shed Business Journal does an excellent job, yet it seemed the places wanted even more.
That day started the journey to launch the Shed Geek Podcast, and my, what a truly wonderful decision. Through this process, I have met some of my best friends, lifelong friends at that. I have found purpose like never before, for which I say thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I absolutely love getting to sit with you and discuss everything from shed history to your journey or your family’s journey. Being able to spend time in a mutually appreciated space feels more like family than work.
It has come with its fair share of bumps and bruises, but we have welcomed the challenges with arms wide open, and overall, it has still been the best decision of my life to step into this industry.
So, what will a Shed Geek column look like? All of the above.
In fact, the first place I’d start is with my introduction to the shed industry, which came at a critical time in my life. I had just spent 10 years working for a local casino in our hometown of Metropolis, Illinois.
It was a place where I learned to focus on customer service, and I mean intense customer service. I was broken, and I felt the Lord telling me it was time to move on. I had no purpose, no drive, and felt like an absolute failure in my career.
I shared my thoughts with a childhood friend with whom it had been a while since I had spoken.
From a distance, I really admired my friend. Although we were always up to no good as teenagers, my friend had found his calling as an associate pastor, and, let me tell you, he was really staying the course, and I was impressed. Could this all be real, I thought?
Well, I found myself leaving one job and heading to the next, depressed, and crying on the side of the road on my way to work in Marion, Illinois. I called my friend, who was the logistics manager at Graceland Portable Buildings. I had never heard of them.
For years in Southern Illinois, Cook Sheds were about the extent of my knowledge aside from traditional storage units. The company was well-established, and my friend asked me to come in and meet with a few folks for a job interview as a procurement coordinator.
I accepted and was able to meet with them and successfully obtain the position.
Little did they know how broken I truly was. I can recall pulling to the side of the road once again, bawling my eyes out in appreciation, and really hearing the voice of God at this moment in my life as I knew I was in for a big change.
Although my tenure at Graceland lasted just one year, it was one of the most impactful years of my life. I grew closer to God, and those around me fostered an environment where I could do so, and I will be eternally grateful to them for that.
Afterward, I spent another year working as support staff at a faith-based drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Paducah, Kentucky, before hopping into shed sales with another church member and friend. That story will have to wait for another column.
In the meantime, I should say a big thank you to Jonathan Rentfro of Graceland. I’m not sure what his title is now, but we still stay in touch, although not as much as I should.
I definitely want to say a public thank you to him, for he doesn’t know how much his dedication to his faith and his friendship meant to this ol’ boy on that day. If you ever need or want the details on that, well, probably only God knows, to be honest.
Aside from that, one of the interviewers that day was Curtis Creason, my supervisor at Graceland, and an excellent gentleman who I’d often stayed in touch with and still should.
It wasn’t until six months into my employment that it hit me. I went to Curtis’s desk and said, “I know now how I first met you. A few years back I ordered metal from you when you were working the PRO desk at Home Depot.”
He said, “Oh my, that’s right, you sure did.”
Curtis was an excellent supervisor, and honestly, the company was a good place for me to work and grow, and I’ll always appreciate my time there.
I remember sitting with Curtis and his wife at the company Christmas party along with my wife. Unfortunately, Curtis’s wife passed due to complications from breast cancer, and oh, how my heart broke for him.
Although this was years after I left, I knew without a shadow of a doubt how much he loved her. In fact, when my bride was diagnosed, he was one of the first people I went to see, and as you can imagine, he offered some of the best advice a fella could get. Thank you, Curtis.
Aside from that, I also spent some time with the previous HR manager, Burtice Bright. He was always so pleasant to see each morning, God bless his soul.
I had the pleasure of attending a few Christian Men’s Conferences with Burtice and some other fellas from church, and I cannot say enough how much I appreciated his stories and his kindness.
If you have never heard my rendition of a paradigm shift, feel free to ask sometime; it ultimately derived from one of Burtice’s stories. Thank you, Burtice, and may you rest well as you now spend forever with our Lord and Savior.
So that’s it, folks. No sales and marketing on this one, no RTO and regulation, no coaching or construction tips. I have no advice to give in this inaugural column but instead a vulnerable story about my introduction to the industry, which has always been way more about the people than just the sheds.
I hope you read along and thought of how you got started and those who have been with you on this journey. Do me a favor, (as I speak to myself on this) pick up the phone, give them a call, tell them thank you, enjoy a cup of coffee with them, bless them as you have been blessed by them, and things will just turn out okay.
At the end of the day, you will be able to say, it is well with my soul.
I sure didn’t plan it this way, it was just one of the things I did, and my friend Dylan Street (who I will be sure to include moving forward) says, “If it’s not the thing, it’ll be the thing that leads to the thing.”
It’s the people industry; we just happen to be around sheds after all. Thank you for listening and for reading, and I hope your day is better because of it.
